SIZE OF BRAIN AND SIZE OF BODY. 827 



combs within, being forced from the bodies of the "workers and into 

 the mouths of the honey-bearers, xmtil, by the time the season is over, 

 they present a remarkable distention. 



This is about all that is known at present concerning the habits of 

 these strange ants. They very likely have other sources of honey at 

 other seasons ; but the most interesting fact is the surprising mode of 

 storage of this sweet food. 



In New Mexico the inhabitants put these ants to a very peculiar 

 use, supplementing their dinners with a plateful of honey-auts for des- 

 sert. The overladen insects wait in enforced patience while the pre- 

 ceding courses of the dinner are being eaten. The mode of partaking 

 of this strange dessert is to pick up an ant, nip the honey-bag with the 

 teeth, forcing its sweet contents into the mouth, while the remainder 

 is thrown away. We are told that this is not so disagreeable a habit 

 as it might at first sight seem, the skin surrounding the honey being 

 reduced to a thin, transparent membrane, with nothing necessarily un- 

 pleasant in its character. Nevertheless, most of us will prefer to com- 

 tinue indebted to the bee for our supply of honey, leaving the ants to 

 enjoy the fruits of their own labors. — Journal of Science. 



SIZE OF BRAIN AND SIZE OF BODY. 



By IL W. B. 



IT may be stated generally that the larger the animal the smaller is 

 the proportionate size of the brain. As an example of this we 

 may take the case of two of the largest animals now living, viz., the 

 whale and the African elephant. The whale possesses one of the 

 largest brains that is found in any animal, but, if we compare the size 

 of its brain to that of any of our domestic animals, such as the dog, 

 we find that it has a very small brain in proportion to the size of its 

 body. The same is the case with the brain of the elephant, which is 

 certainly the largest brain of any land animal, but which, compared 

 to the size of the body, is very small. Another set of animals in which 

 the brain is comparatively small is the reptiles. This group includes 

 a number of animals which are not included in the popular sense of 

 the word, such as the crocodiles, the turtles and lizards, as well as the 

 snakes. In these the brain is small comparatively to the size of the 

 body, as it is also in the amphibia. The small size of the brain in these 

 two classes of vertebrates is peculiar, as it runs through all the various 

 groups, although most marked in the larger members of each one. The 

 birds also follow the rule that the largest of them have smaller brains 

 compared to their bodies than the smaller ones have. A good example 

 of this may be seen in the case of the ostrich, which has the largest 



